Field School
Health Care
Equador Girl
Museum
Nepal
Bones
Cell Phone
Ruins
Margaret_Sally
Brush Teeth
Mission Statement: Wake Forest University Department of Anthropology
The WFU Department of Anthropology promotes understanding and appreciation of human cultural and biological diversity. Through academic courses, scholarly and applied research, and public service, the Department provides the Wake Forest community with the tools and knowledge necessary for global citizenship. Composed of scholars representing all sub-fields of anthropology, the Department serves as the premier academic and practical resource for multicultural awareness and education in the University and Winston-Salem communities, enhancing the University’s commitment to Pro Humanitate.
Anthropology
“Anthropology”–from the Greek anthropos (“human”) and logia (“science”)–is the scientific study of humankind, from its beginnings millions of years ago to the present day. Its subject matter is both exotic (initiation rites of the Ganda of Uganda) and commonplace (anatomy of the human hand). Its focus is both sweeping and microscopic. Anthropologists may study the environmental impact of a new industry, the folklore of West Virginia, primate disease patterns, prehistoric cultures in North Carolina, or secret societies.
A common thread links these vastly different projects. The common goal is to advance knowledge of who we are and how we came to be that way. Because the subject matter of anthropology is so broad, an undergraduate major in anthropology is part of a broad liberal arts background for students interested in any career, including law, environmental studies, government, business, international relations, medicine, and in just being a well-educated citizen.
With the current intensity of global actions and interactions and the increasing cultural diversity of our own society, anthropology becomes even more relevant to our lives. In these times of narrow specialization, anthropological study is refreshingly broad. Anthropology is traditionally divided into four subfields: linguistic anthropology, archaeology, cultural anthropology, and physical (biological) anthropology.
The Department of Anthropology at Wake Forest includes all four subfields, as well as a focus on the practical application of the knowledge we generate in solving real world problems, known as applied anthropology.
The WFU Department of Anthropology promotes understanding and appreciation of human cultural and biological diversity. Through academic courses, scholarly and applied research, and public service, the Department provides the Wake Forest community with the tools and knowledge necessary for global citizenship. Composed of scholars representing all sub-fields of anthropology, the Department serves as the premier academic and practical resource for multicultural awareness and education in the University and Winston-Salem communities, enhancing the University’s commitment to Pro Humanitate.
Anthropology
“Anthropology”–from the Greek anthropos (“human”) and logia (“science”)–is the scientific study of humankind, from its beginnings millions of years ago to the present day. Its subject matter is both exotic (initiation rites of the Ganda of Uganda) and commonplace (anatomy of the human hand). Its focus is both sweeping and microscopic. Anthropologists may study the environmental impact of a new industry, the folklore of West Virginia, primate disease patterns, prehistoric cultures in North Carolina, or secret societies.
A common thread links these vastly different projects. The common goal is to advance knowledge of who we are and how we came to be that way. Because the subject matter of anthropology is so broad, an undergraduate major in anthropology is part of a broad liberal arts background for students interested in any career, including law, environmental studies, government, business, international relations, medicine, and in just being a well-educated citizen.
With the current intensity of global actions and interactions and the increasing cultural diversity of our own society, anthropology becomes even more relevant to our lives. In these times of narrow specialization, anthropological study is refreshingly broad. Anthropology is traditionally divided into four subfields: linguistic anthropology, archaeology, cultural anthropology, and physical (biological) anthropology.
The Department of Anthropology at Wake Forest includes all four subfields, as well as a focus on the practical application of the knowledge we generate in solving real world problems, known as applied anthropology.
WFU Anthropology on Facebook
Graduating Senior Jack Portman (2021) will present his Honors Thesis research this Wed, April 14, 2021 at 2:00 pm in the Anthropology Department Conference Room.![]()
![]()
The title of his work is “All You Can Holler About is Rent: The Politics and Precarities of Housing in East Winston.”![]()
![]()
All Anthropology students and faculty are welcome to join on Zoom. If you are a Junior interested in earning departmental honors, you may want to attend so that you know what to expect from an Honors project defense.![]()
![]()
For more information, see the attached flyer or contact Jack directly. Or DM for zoom link!
Tomorrow, Tuesday April 13th at 4pm EST! Please join us for Lives in Transit, a talk by Dr. Wendy Vogt (IUPUI). ![]()
![]()
This talk focuses on the subject of Dr. Vogt’s book, Lives in Transit, which chronicles the dangerous journeys of Central American migrants in transit through Mexico. Drawing on fieldwork in humanitarian aid shelters and other key sites, Wendy A. Vogt examines the multiple forms of violence that migrants experience as their bodies, labor, and lives become implicated in global and local economies that profit from their mobility as racialized and gendered others. She also reveals new forms of intimacy, solidarity, and activism that have emerged along transit routes over the past decade. Through the stories of migrants, shelter workers, and local residents, Vogt encourages us to reimagine transit as a site of both violence and precarity as well as social struggle and resistance.![]()
![]()
Wendy Vogt is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and the author of the book, Lives in Transit: Violence and Intimacy on the Migrant Journey published by the University of California Press in the California Series for Public Anthropology. Dr. Vogt is the recipient of the 2020 Robert B. Textor and Family Prize for Excellence in Anticipatory Anthropology for “her utilization of anthropological perspectives, methods and innovative theory in an anticipatory mode to draw attention to and inform public policy regarding the plight of migrants as they attempt to cross borders.” ” By writing a book that is beneficial to organizations and advocacy efforts, Vogt aims to extend the political debate about immigration beyond the United States and emphasize the relevance of anticipatory public scholarship to struggles for human rights and justice.![]()
![]()
Free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required (here: wakeforest-university.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAqcOutpzMqGt0Qb6nmSkhs-KFztAzSc4_E)![]()
![]()
Sponsored by the WFU Latin American and Latino Studies Program and the WFU Anthropology Department.
This content isn't available right now
When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.
Tonight at 8 pm EST, chat with four WFU Anthro Alumni about their experiences in graduate school and tips for our current students contemplating grad school. To register: wakeforest-university.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIlcOitqzguGdZ1VBwhnaOjHiOaLqR0m8v_
Department News
-
Sherri Lawson Clark – Poverty Law and Advocacy in America
-
Jack Portman – Anthro Major – Forsyth County Struggles to Help Its Most Vulnerable Amid COVID-19
-
Hack To The Future: WFU students take Hackathon First Prize
-
Displaced in Forsyth County: Economic Mobility, Concentrated Poverty & Home Loss Webinar
-
Anthropology Alumni – Jack Portman – Featured in New American Weekly
-
A Statement of Solidarity
